Billie Eilish’s new documentary offers an intimate glimpse of her meteoric rise

Billie Eilish did not become a superstar overnight, however much it seems. His rise to stardom more like a slow, steady burn, and is the subject of a new Apple TV + documentary, Billie Eilish: the world a little blurry, debuting on February 26. Directed by RJ Cutler, the doc offers an intimate glimpse into how the 19-year-old singer has dealt with fame and touring, struggling with her physical and mental health, and just being a teenager. Through a mix of home videos and new footage, Eilish follows as she records her debut album, When we all fall asleep, where are we going?, and then hits career records, like accumulating 11 Grammys with his brother, Finneas, at last year’s ceremony.

The world is a little out of focus opens with a clip of Eilish singing “Ocean Eyes”, the song Finneas wrote and she sang and released when she was just 13, putting her in the spotlight. (In a home video, she is seen listening to the music on the radio for the first time while her father, appearing behind her, casually folds a pair of underpants.) What follows is a two-hour documentation of Eilish’s meteoric rise, including a raw image see how Eilish reluctantly sailed to become a public person. “This is so weird, guys, I’m nobody,” she says during an opening presentation. “I don’t know why you like me.”

Backstage looking at Eilish and Finneas recording their first album together is a definite highlight. The document allows us to know their creative process, during which they function as a single entity; where Finneas is confident in work and fast in production, Eilish is critical and full of doubts, and the two balance each other out. “It looks bad and I look horrible; I can’t sound good because I’m not good, ”says Eilish at one point. “Many people would agree with me that you are very good,” replies Finneas.

Eilish is extremely hard on herself in general. After her performance at Coachella 2019, we see her lose some lyrics on stage and then go into a depressed state after the show, with her whole family trying to comfort her. It becomes clear that her parents and brother, who are very close and are always close to her, kept her grounded during her turbulent journey.

Exploring his feelings of sadness or depression is something Eilish never shied away from when writing his song with Finneas; she wants her fans to identify with that. “Are you okay?” She asks them during a presentation. “You need to be well, because you are the reason I am well.” At another point, Eilish talks about cutting herself when she was 14 and how far she has gone since then. “I had razors hidden in places and bandages hidden in a corner of my room,” she says. “I was literally locking myself in the bathroom and making myself bleed, because I thought I deserved it.” The doctor also shares Eilish’s experiences with physical exhaustion, from dealing with shin splints on tour to dealing with outbreaks of Tourette’s syndrome, which are often caused by stress.